CLEMSON, S.C. (WNCN/AP) – It took one of Duke’s best offensive games of the season, along with a few clutch plays in the final minute, but the Blue Devils football team has beaten Clemson in Death Valley for the first time since 1980.
Darian Mensah threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns to lead Duke to a wild 46-45 win over the Tigers. Cooper Barkate added 127 receiving yards and a touchdown.
A pass interference call against Clemson on fourth down set up Duke to score with 40 seconds to play. Nate Sheppard reached the end zone from three yards out to make it 45-44, and Mensah connected with Samir Hagans for a two-point conversion and a one-point Blue Devils lead.
The Tigers’ desperate final drive ended with the Devils recovering a loose ball near midfield.
It’s the first time in Clemson football history that they’ve lost a game when scoring 45 or more points. They were 134-0 in those games leading into Saturday.
Duke scored 21 points in the opening quarter, then allowed 21 in the second quarter in a back-and-forth offensive affair. Clemson lost despite racking up 545 yards of total offense.
It was another low moment in a terrible season for Clemson (3-5, 1-4), the defending ACC champions and a trendy pick to win Dabo Swinney’s third national title. The Tigers have lost four home games for the first time since 1998.
The Tigers tried a desperation, pass the ball to anyone open play as the clock ran out. When Duke finally stopped the play, the sidelines jumped into joyous celebration. After all, it had been more than four decades since the football Blue Devils had left Death Valley with a victory.
Mensah finished with 361 yards passing and a career-best four touchdown passes.
Clemson piled up the yards and points, too — 560 yards and its most points this season — but could not get the critical stops to avoid a third straight home loss.
Cade Klubnik, in his first game back since getting injured against Boston College last month, passed for 385 yards and two touchdowns for Clemson.
Receiver Antonio Williams caught 10 passes for 139 yards, running for one score and catching another.
Likely NFL first-round defensive lineman Peter Woods added a 1-yard rush off a direct snap for Clemson.
The takeaway
Duke: The Blue Devils pulled out all the stops to snap a 15-game losing streak here. They finished 5-of-5 on fourth downs, four of those coming in the first half. Hagans also had a 100-yard kickoff return score in the third quarter.
Clemson: Things can’t get much lower for the Tigers, on the verge of their worst season of Dabo Swinney’s 17 full seasons. They play Florida State next week and have road games at Louisville and rival South Carolina.
Up next
Duke goes to UConn on Saturday.
Clemson plays its final ACC home game against Florida State on Saturday night.